NVMe M.2 overheats
SSK USB 3.1c external NVMe M.2 SSD, overheats so bad you cannot touch the enclosure during backups. This is my first testing of NVMe backups, and was shocked by results.
Backing up from a SSD should not cause overheating, backup to a SSD may cook it and wear it out. Without knowing what SSD is in it it's pretty hard to tell but if it is a QLC one you get about 0.3 DWPD and as a backup destination it will be pretty slow.
ASKER
Intel 660p SSD 512GB. Windows 10 Pro v1909. Acronis True Image Home 2020. Yes the SSD is QLC.
Look at the sustained write performance https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/reviews/intel-ssd-660p-qlc-nvme,5719-3.html , slower than a hard disk drive. It's not something to back up onto. When empty you can get good performance but when full the pseudo SLC cache cannot grow big enough so you're writing directly to QLC. If you intend to use it as a backup target you'll need a case with a heatsink although you could glue heatsinks onto it using thermal glue.
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SSK USB 3.1c external NVMe M.2 SSD, overheats so bad you cannot touch the enclosure during backups.
This is par for the course with many external drives. Without any provision for cooling, and stuck inside a closed case, the heat from any drive has nowhere to go. All the poor drive trapped inside can do is radiate heat out through the case wall, which -- if the case is plastic, and most are -- does not work very well as plastic is not a good conductor of heat.
You could open the case, remove the SSD and drill vent holes in the top, bottom and sides, but this would void the warranty and unless done very carefully will look shabby.
Possibly a better solution is a SATA or eSATA docking port attached via USB. That allows plugging in a standard 2.5" drive which sits out in the air and then the drive can cool itself by convection.
This is par for the course with many external drives. Without any provision for cooling, and stuck inside a closed case, the heat from any drive has nowhere to go. All the poor drive trapped inside can do is radiate heat out through the case wall, which -- if the case is plastic, and most are -- does not work very well as plastic is not a good conductor of heat.
You could open the case, remove the SSD and drill vent holes in the top, bottom and sides, but this would void the warranty and unless done very carefully will look shabby.
Possibly a better solution is a SATA or eSATA docking port attached via USB. That allows plugging in a standard 2.5" drive which sits out in the air and then the drive can cool itself by convection.
ASKER
I will replace with a Samsung EVO or PRO for the next device.
After using these devices for years, they do heat up some + heat during use is roughly same as when at rest, so likely there's something else at play here too.
Provide more detail, starting with...
1) OS being used.
2) Backup mechanism being used (like tar + zstd).
3) Whether this device is for backups only or is a boot device, where system uses this device for all activity.